Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian: Закарпатська область) is an administrative region located in southwestern Ukraine with the centre in the city of Uzhhorod. Other major cities within the oblast include Mukachevo, Khust, Berehove and Chop which is home to railroad transport infrastructure.

Situated in the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine, Zakarpattia Oblast is the only Ukrainian administrative division which borders upon four countries: Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. On the West it borders the Prešov and Košice Regions of Slovakia and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Counties of Hungary, on the South - the Satu Mare and Maramureş Counties of Romania, on the East and Northeast - Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and on the North - Lviv Oblast and the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland.

The Carpathian Mountains play a major part in the oblast's economy, making the region an important tourist and travel destination housing many ski and spa resorts. The Zakarpattia Oblast mostly consists of mountains and small hills covered with deciduous and coniferous forests, as well as alpine meadows. Mountains cover about 80% of the oblast's area, and cross from North-East to South-East. The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, part of which are located within Zakarpattia Oblast, were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The largest rivers that flow through the oblast include the Tysa, Borzhava, and the Tereblia.

With its almost 13,000 square kilometres, the population of Zakarpattia Oblast is 1,254,614. This total includes people of many different nationalities of which Hungarians and Romanians constitute significant minorities in some of the province's cities. 68% of the population of Zakarpattia Oblast adheres to Eastern Orthodoxy, while 19% are followers of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and 7% are Roman Catholics. 

Zakarpattia Oblast is administratively subdivided into 13 raions (districts), as well as 5 cities (municipalities) which are directly subordinate to the oblast government: Berehove, Chop, Khust, Mukachevo, and the administrative centre of the oblast, Uzhhorod. There are a total of 7 cities, 19 towns, and more than 579 villages.

Zakarpattia Oblast was part of the Programme area of the Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine ENPI CBC Programme 2007-2013. For CBC projects implemented by the lead partners and partners from the Zakarpattia Oblast please check the KEEP database.